I Love Kufr

The following was written by the creative genius, Greg Hamilton. The idea below unites non-Muslims, says something positive about non-Muslims, and rejects Islam, all in one little statement. Brilliant.

Kufr is an Arabic word meaning disbelief — specifically disbelief in the truth claims of Islam.

Kufr is the absence of Islamic belief.

Kufr can be any degree of doubt about the truth of Islam right up to complete rejection of its claims.

Islam at its core is an assertion. The assertion is that Muhammad's claim about himself is true. The whole edifice of Islam is built around that assertion. The shahada, the Muslim declaration of faith, is an affirmation of related assertions: One, that there is a God and, two, that Muhammad is his final messenger. "There is no God but Allah and Muhammad is His messenger".

Islam grew as a means of defending and extending the scope of that assertion. To be committed to that assertion is to be a Muslim and any doubt regarding its truth is a failure of belief; that is kufr. This failure of belief is treated as disloyalty and betrayal in Islam.

Kufr can therefore be used to refer to all that negates Islam in some way. All that lies outside Islam and which Islam is programmed to eradicate, all this is kufr or unbelief. All that can lead Muslims to abandon the core assertion of Islam is a form of kufr. Kufr is a useful little word for summing up everything that is not Islam or which runs against it.

All those things that are not Islam stand in opposition to Islam by virtue of Islam's opposition to them. To say "I love kufr" is an affirmation of all that Islam would like to destroy in order to defend its core assertion.

We can use the term kufr to refer to the plurality of beliefs, ideas, cultures, and activities which are not Islamic and which, by virtue of Islam's own opposition to all that is not Islamic, are threatened with annihilation by Islam. It is not enough that these things present no threat to Muslims in themselves because by their mere existence they present temptations for Muslims to abandon Islam and must therefore be removed.

Some of the many things we can put in the category of kufr are:

• free inquiry
• freedom of conscience
• freedom of speech
• figurative art in all its wonderful variety
• music in all its wonderful variety
• democracy
• cultural pluralism
• dancing and fun in all their wonderful variety
• science

"I love kufr" is a way of saying "Islam's core assertion is false. I repudiate and reject it." It is a way of affirming all things non-Islamic. It is a way of saying "I refuse to be intimidated by Islam's vile nonsense." It is a statement of defiance and rebellion.

Kufr is any failure to strictly uphold the beliefs of Islam and since the beliefs of Islam are so terrible it is a cause for celebration when Muslims are less Islamic to any degree. Better still is the loss of belief altogether.

Loving kufr is loving the absence of Islamic belief.

Why should one love the absence of Islamic belief? Why love kufr?

Because where Islamic belief is absent:

• there is no Sharia
• there is room for innocent fun
• there is more freedom
• there is music and dancing
• life can move on and evolve
• there are no burkhas, chadors, niqabs, or hijabs
• there is no jihad
• life is better for everyone

And in that blessed moment of kufr when a Muslim loses his or her belief all Creation smiles.

When Islamic belief gives way to kufr beautiful things happen. We pay homage to the beauty of kufr.

One thing that I hope to do is to show how many great Muslim people have rejected Islam in total or in part and that this will demonstrate that there is nothing immovable or sacrosanct about Islamic belief; that Westerners who are afraid to criticize Islam for various reasons will take heart from the courageous examples of others; and also that it will take the fight to the enemy by celebrating the negation of Islam and repudiate its core assertion.

Button badges are available here (or copy the image above and share it).

You can read more by Greg Hamilton here:

• I Love Kufr
• Enjoy the Conditions of Omar
• Malsi-Tung

Editor's note: If you are an artist, I invite you to render this statement in many ways — in the form of a bumper sticker, for example. In different colors. And to have many different artistic versions of this button, and perhaps images people could use on their Facebook pages, or as signatures at the end of their emails, etc. If you're an artist, let us see what you can do. Send your images here: Citizen Warrior.